Compare / Square
Square texts your customers. It doesn't make an order ready screen.
Square's native answer is an order-ready text on eligible Restaurants plans with KDS hardware. Pickup Signal is the shared screen at the counter: connect any Square account and put the live queue on any TV, no Restaurants plan, no KDS device.
order → pickup boardTexts and a board do different jobs.
Square requirements as published in Square's support article, July 28, 2026. Check Square's site for current details.
You can run both.
On Restaurants Plus with a KDS, order-ready texts reach the customer who left the shop. Pickup Signal reads orders through Square's own integration and never touches your checkout.
Most of a rush never leaves the shop. The board answers "is mine ready?" for the whole line at once, with no phone number collected and no per-message fee. It's also your name and colors on the wall.
Asked by Square sellers.
Does Square have a customer-facing order status screen?
Not as a native product. Square's built-in option is order-ready texts on eligible Square for Restaurants plans with KDS hardware. A pickup screen comes from a partner product, which is what Pickup Signal is.
Do I need Square for Restaurants to use Pickup Signal?
No. Pickup Signal connects to any Square account through Square's standard authorization. No Restaurants plan, no KDS device, no new hardware at the register.
Does Pickup Signal replace Square KDS?
No. A KDS is a kitchen workflow tool for staff. Pickup Signal is the customer-facing layer and runs alongside any kitchen setup, including no KDS at all.
Which orders appear automatically?
Eligible orders from the connected Square location appear with names and items. Staff add exceptions from the same page they use to mark orders ready.
See your shop's name on a board in two minutes.
Connect Square, pair a TV, hand your staff one link.